Wagon-bed attachment.



N. B. MARTIN.

WAGON BED ATACHIVIENT.

APPLICATION FILEUNPR. 12, 191s.

Patented Dec. 12, 1916.

NICHOLAS B. MARTIN, 0F MOUNT HOPE, KANSAS.

WAGON-BED ATTACHMENT.

LQUJAZ.

Speccaton of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec.. 12, 1916.

Application filed April 12, 1916. v Serial No. 90,694..

To all whom t may concern Be it known that I, NICHOLAS B. MARTIN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Mount Hope, in the county of Sedgwick and State of Kansas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Wagon- Bed Attachments, of which the following is a specification.

This invention is an attachment for wagon beds and has for its object the provision of a simple and eflicient device whereby a wagon bed or box will be held iirmly to the bolster and the wear ordinarily incident to the jolting of the bed or box upon the bolster will be minimized.

A secondary object of the invention is to provide means whereby the attachment may be easily applied to or removed from the wagon bed or box and may be adjusted to be applied to the box or to the side boards placed upon the box.

The several stated objects of the invention and other incidental objects which will hereinafter appear are attained in the use of the device illustrated in the accompanying drawings and the invention resides in certain novelfeatures of arrangement and construction which will be particularly pointed out in the claims following the detailed description.

In the annexed drawings: Figure 1 is an elevation showing my attachment applied to a wagon bed provided with extension side boards; Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the device applied to a wagon bed; Fig. 3 is a vertical longitudinal section through the device, the parts being arranged for application to a wagon bed; Fig. 4 is a detail view of the locking lever and the parts connected therewith; Fig. 5 is a detail view of an attaching bar or foot which is used when the device is applied to a wagon box'.

1n the drawings l have shown a bolster 1 from which rises a standard 2 which may be of any ordinary construction. 1n Fig. 1 a portion of the wagon bed 3 is shown resting upon the bolster and having extensionv side boards 4 mounted thereon while in Fig. 2 the wagon box is shown resting on the bolster without the extension side boards. The standards 2 are ordinarily provided each with a bracing strap or bracket which presents an eye 5 at its upper end through which the lower end of the attachment may be engaged.

The attachment comprises primarily a casing or hollow bar 6 constructed with a hook 7 at its upper end which is adapted to engage over the upper edge of the wagon box 3 or the side boards 4. The lower end of this casing is provided with a plate, base, or cap 8 having a central opening through which a link or rod 9 passes, the said rod being threaded at its upper extremity, as shown at 10, and having a nut 11 mounted on said threaded portion. lThe nut will be of such shape and size as to iit closely within the casing 6 and be prevented from turning thereby, and a web or bar 12 may be formed across the open side of the casing to project in front of said nut to aid in preventing the turning of the same and also ret-ain it within the casing. A spring 13 is coiled around the link or rod 9 between the nut l1 and the cap 8, as clearly shown in Fig. 3. The lower end of the link or rod 9 is pivoted, as indicated at 14, to a locking lever l5 having an oil'set hook 16 at its free end. 'lo the opposite end of the said lever, l pivotally attach the upper end of a stem 17 having a hook 18 formed on its lower end which is adapted to pass through the eye 5, as shown in Fig. 1. The hook 16 is properly shaped and proportioned to it snugly around thestem 17 when the parts are locked in position, as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 4.

When the device is to be applied, as shown in Fig. l, the hook 18 is engaged through the eye 5 and the lever 15 is disposed in the position shown in Fig. 4. rThe hook 7 is engaged over the upper end of the extension side board 4 after which the lever 15 is swung in the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 4, so that the pivots 14 and 19 connecting the lever to the link 9 and the stem 17, respectively, will be caused to shift about each other so as to reverse their relative positions, thereby placing the spring 13 under tension so that the side boards will be held firmly to the wagon box which will be held firmly to the bolster.

Vhen the device is arranged, as shown in Fig. 2, the hook 18 will obviously be below the upper end of the standard 2 and l, therefore, provide .an attaching bar or foot 20, shown fully in Fig. 5. rllhis bar is provided with an eye 21 at its upper end in which the hook 18 is engaged and on one side, near its lower end, is provided with a shoulder 22 adapted to engage under the lower end of the side brace 25 to the bolster, as shown in Y 'Y Y Fig., V2. An opening 23 is formed through I VVVtlie'lower end of the foot 2() below the shoul-Y il Vder 22 toreceive a bolt 23 whereby the foot will be secured to thebolster and above the saidY shoulder 22 is an openingQa which receives the same -bolt 2a that secures the Vbraces 25 to the bolster. rIhe hook 7 in this application of the invention will be engaged directly over Vthe upper edge of the wagon bed, as shown, and the locking lever is manipulated in precisely the same manner asthe device shown in F ig. l.

It will be readilyV understood that the spring ljmay beset at any desired tension by rotating the link 9 through the nut 11 thereby eecting relative Ymovement of these partsso that the nut will be maderto appreachV more or less closely to the cap 8 by the operation of the locking lever 15. After thelocking lever has been swung around so Ythat the hoop 16 engages the stemV 17, the

" pivots 14 and 19 will bein alinen'ient and,

' the bolster.

consequently, va-Vstrong pull will be exertedk downwardly upon the wagon' box or the ex- Y. tension side boards so that the boards will be held firmly to the box and the box held to The hook 16 isprovided with a slight offset or projection 26 so thatrit may be easilyY moved when it is desired to release the box. YIt will be noted that the open side of the Ycasing'or bar 6 bears against the side of the wagon box so that the spring is pro- ,tected from injury and dirt lcannot collect Yaround 1t.

The device is exceedingly simple in the construction and arrangement of its parts Yadaptedto fit against the side of the wagon box and constructed at its upper end with a hook adapted to engage over the edge of the same, a link slidably mounted in the lower end of said member andliaving a threaded upper extremity, a nut on said threaded extremity of the link fitting within the Wagonbox-engaging member to be inclosed and held against rotation thereby, a spring coiled around the link between said nut and the lower end of the wagon-box-engaging member whereby rotation of the link will vary the tension of the link, a lever pivoted between its ends to the lower end of said link, and aV hook adapted to engage a running gear and having a stem pivoted to the end of said lever.

2. The combination of a wagon-box-engaging member, a member adapted to be connected with a ruiming gear, a link yieldably litted within the wagon box engaging member, and a locking lever pivoted at one end to the member adapted to be connected with a ruiming gear and intermediate its ends to the end oi' said link, the free end of said locking lever being constructed to cngage around the member to be connected with the running gear.

3. The combination of a wagon-box-engaging member, a longitudinally movable link mounted therein, a hook adapted to be connected with a running gear and having a stem extending toward the said link, and a locking lever pivoted intermediate its ends to the end of said link and at one end to the end of said stem, the free end of said locking lever being constructed with a hook adapted to engage around the said stem.

'4. The combination of a wagon-box-engaging member, a link movable longitudinally within said member, a foot adapted to fit against and be secured to a bolster of a running gear and provided with an opening at its upper end, a hook adapted to pass through said opening and having a stem extending toward said link, and a locking lever having pivotal connections with the link and the said stem and constructed to lockingly engage said stem.

In testimony whereof I aiiix my signature.

NICHOLAS B. MARTIN. [n s] Copies of this patent mayV be obtained for five cents each, 'by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

' Y Washington, D. C. 

